Wow. The Jacklighter is on shelves now, and its launch-week reception has been overwhelming, in the best way possible. 🥹 From signing well over 50 copies at the Barnes & Noble in Vestal, NY, to three local bookstore events where I met readers with deeply personal connections to the Martin Dillon case … it’s been an incredible first week. More...
The Jacklighter
✨ The Jacklighter is out today. Thank you to everyone who preordered, shared, reviewed, and cheered me on. 🙏 🥹 Order links are here. Today’s post isn’t mine. I’m turning the blog over to renowned thriller author J.D. Barker. And since this is where I have room to tell the whole story, I want to explain why that means...
7 Days to Launch: What Critics Are Saying About The Jacklighter With one week to go until The Jacklighter launches on Oct. 27, I’ve gathered this whole season of reviews in one place, because it’s been a lot to take in, in the best way 🥹 Six professional reviewers have now read the book. Each brought a different lens,...
IndieReader has a special place in my heart. It’s where Chained Birds won the True Crime category in the 2025 IndieReader Discovery Awards, so when I entered The Jacklighter in its contest, I held my breath for IR’s first take on the book. The short IndieReader “Verdict” arrived soon after, and I’ve been quoting one line from it ever since:...
“A gripping account of a murder between friends”—I couldn’t ask for a better highlight from Foreword Clarion Reviews, which gave The Jacklighter 4 out of 5 stars this week 🎉 Likewise, I couldn’t have scripted the reviewer’s opening line any better either: “A thorough and compassionate book, The Jacklighter covers a troubling murder trial at the start of the...
Greetings, true crime fans. I’m updating this post with more book launch events—I hope to see you later this month if you’re in Philadelphia or Northeast PA. 🎉 And my update starts with some surprise book news: if you’d like a signed copy of The Jacklighter before its official publication on Oct. 27, 2026, join me at the new Barnes & Noble in...
Handing my book to a professional stranger and asking for an honest read is always nerve-racking, and so I’m especially delighted to share this one by BookLife Reviews, which took such care with The Jacklighter. Their one-sentence takeaway: “Illuminating investigative account of a 1976 Pennsylvania cold case.” BookLife is Publishers Weekly’s program for independently published books. Its review service...
Two years ago, Midwest Book Review Senior Reviewer Diane Donovan wrote a review of Chained Birds that still makes me a little teary. This fall, she read The Jacklighter, and her first sentence made me smile, because she nailed something I’ve had trouble explaining to people: “Readers of Carla Conti’s previous crime memoir saga Chained Birds will appreciate the...
Independent Book Review was one of the first outlets to champion Chained Birds (its review went live on my launch day in 2024), so I was thrilled to see what reviewer Savannah Brooks made of The Jacklighter. I’ve read her opening line a dozen times now, and I still get emotional. It may be the truest summation of this...
Yesterday, an email landed in my inbox that made me do a little happy dance 🎉. BestThrillers.com, the site that named Chained Birds a Finalist in its 2024 Best Thriller contest, has posted its editorial review of The Jacklighter. Their bottom line: “A powerful and compulsive true crime epic that demands a screen adaptation.” 🥹 The reviewer says I...
The wait is almost over: preorders for The Jacklighter are officially live in ebook, hardcover, and paperback, with delivery arriving right on launch day, October 27, 2026. (If audio is more your speed, the author-narrated audiobook is coming Q1 2027—I’ll share details as soon as it’s ready.) And in the “pinch me” column: The Jacklighter briefly hit #1 New...
I already gushed about this in my last post, but I wanted to give Around Ambler its own proper spotlight, because a feature like this doesn’t come along every day 🎉 If you missed it: Around Ambler, my local news site covering Ambler, Blue Bell, Fort Washington, Maple Glen, and Lower Gwynedd, ran a feature on THE JACKLIGHTER and...
Something Shifted This Week For years, I’ve been researching, reporting, and writing The Jacklighter, a narrative true crime book about the 1976 murder of Montrose attorney Martin Dillon and the decades-long quest for justice that followed. (Set for publication this fall.) For 30 years, I’ve kept boxes of newspaper clippings in my basement. Decades ago, I sat with the...
🗣️ Listen to this short post and full excerpt, narrated by the author (23 min): New excerpts from THE JACKLIGHTER mark 50 years since a Pennsylvania attorney was murdered in the woods. In a perfect world, The Jacklighter would have been published on June 2, 2026, exactly 50 years to the day that Martin Dillon walked into the Pennsylvania...
One of the highlights of this year’s Pennwriters Conference in Lancaster, PA, was recording a special podcast episode for the BookSpeak Network. I was thrilled to sit down with podcaster Tory Gates—author, broadcaster, and host of The Brown Posey Press Show—for an all-Pennwriters edition of the podcast. Tory is a veteran of nearly four decades in broadcast radio, currently...
The 39th Annual Pennwriters Conference — Lancaster, PA | May 15–17, 2026 There’s something about a roomful of writers that recharges me every time. The 39th Annual Pennwriters Conference, themed The Writer’s Path, brought a swarm of authors, poets, and storytellers to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for three days of workshops, craft conversations, and a Lord of the Rings costumed social...
Some mysteries are buried deep, but they never truly disappear. For the past year, I’ve been immersed in the cold, hard details of a case that’s haunted me since I first started researching it three decades ago. Bringing The Jacklighter to life has been an exercise in reconstruction—sifting through old boxes of evidence, documents, and now thousands of pages...
I’m still pinching myself. When I launched the Kickstarter campaign for The Jacklighter: Murder, Betrayal, and Justice in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains, I hoped for the best and prepared for the worst. But my Backer Besties came through and fully funded (and then some!) my first Kickstarter campaign 😭😭😭 To every single backer who pledged, shared the campaign, cheered me...
Last week I had the pleasure of joining the legendary Ron Chepesiuk for a full hour on his award-nominated show, Crime Beat—and it was the best conversation I’ve had about The Jacklighter so far. We covered a lot of ground: how I first stumbled onto this story nearly 30 years ago in my husband’s hometown of Montrose, Pennsylvania; why...
What happened to the couple in this photo? This week, I found a photo I forgot I had. It’s a 3½-inch-square, faded color snapshot of a glorious 1968 wedding party—nearly 20 people posed on a sunlit lawn in Binghamton, NY, the bride stunning in white lace and a full veil, the groom beaming beside her. Two flower girls in...
🎧 Win CHAINED BIRDS on Spotify — Plus Get a Free eBook Just for Sharing! I’ve always wanted to do this. 🎉 As an indie author who loves connecting with readers, I’ve dreamed of running contests and giveaways — not just as a one-time thing, but as an ongoing way to celebrate my books and build excitement for what’s...
It’s Day 3 of THE JACKLIGHTER’s pre-launch phase on Kickstarter, and I’m thrilled to report that things are already off to a promising start. 🎉 As of this writing, The Jacklighter is trending #6 out of 206 projects in Kickstarter’s “most popular upcoming nonfiction” publishing category—and I have my fabulous first 11 followers to thank for that early momentum....
The Wait Is Over—THE JACKLIGHTER Is Now LIVE on Kickstarter! It’s happening. 🎉 After months of R&D, THE JACKLIGHTER: Murder, Betrayal, and Justice in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains is finally live on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding platform for creatives. This is a FOLLOW Phase … Backing with Pledges & Rewards Comes Next Month! This project, my second true crime book, is...
Looking ahead to 2026, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be presenting a workshop called True Crime Uncovered at the 39th Annual Pennwriters Conference in Lancaster, PA, May 15-17, 2026! This is a particularly meaningful opportunity for me, as I first attended the conference this past spring as a debut author still finding my way in the publishing world....